Falling Slowly
by indiacaitlin
Summary: Falling in love can be tough, but falling in love in a zombie ridden world pushes love, loss and the human nature to their limits. Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier are about to find out that love can exist in a world full of flesh eating walkers.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Daryl grunted as he pulled the crossbow bolt out of the back of the walker's head on the ground in front of him. He paused for a moment before using a foot to turn it over and looked down to study it's mangled face. Her hair, although dirty and bloody, indicated that she was bleach blonde, a city girl, Daryl thought as his eyes caught a glint of silver. He knelt down next to the walker, placing his crossbow on the ground and reached out to grab the chain around her neck.

"Hey Jackie Chan!" Daryl shouted, looking around to see where Glenn had got to.

"For the last time, Jackie Chan was Chinese, I'm Korean" came Glenn's reply as he gingerly closed the trunk of the minivan he was searching.

Daryl smiled to himself, "Just come here, would you? Got something you might be interested in"

Glenn jogged over to where Daryl was kneeling and looked at the necklace and then at Daryl, puzzled.  
"Never had you down for the jewellery type, man" Glenn chuckled, "But uhh, it'd suit you I think".

Daryl flashed Glenn an exasperated look, "I thought you might wanna take it for little bo peep, might make up for the fact that she was pretty pissed at you this morning"

Glenn half smiled and knelt down to get a closer look at the necklace in Daryl's hand "Well I'm touched by the thought man but I have something else in mind, the minivan over there has a stash of chocolate in the trunk, I was thinking I'd give those to her. But you could take it anyway, see if any of the others want it"

Daryl shrugged and reached around the walker's neck to undo the chain, "Might give it to the last samurai, see if she'll crack a smile" he said, picking up his crossbow and shoving the silver chain into his pocket.

Glenn laughed, "Nah, Michonne is definitely not a smiler, you would have to..."  
He was cut off by a shuffling sound accompanied by a low moaning coming from behind them, the two men exchanged an almost tired look and turned around to see three walkers making their way towards them.  
"Shit I was hoping this was gonna be a simple run" Glenn exclaimed, unsheathing his knife while walking intently towards the largest of the three.

Daryl spat on the ground, loaded up a bolt and shot cleanly into the forehead of another of the walkers, which crumpled to the ground while Glenn deftly stabbed his walker through the eye.

"Are these the only ones?" Daryl asked, loading up another bolt in time to kill the last of the three just before it reached Glenn.

"I think so" Glenn panted, looking around the parking lot just in case.

"You got everything we needed?" Daryl asked, bending down to pull out the bolts from the two walkers.

Glenn put his knife away and pulled off his backpack, "I think so" he said, unzipping the bag to check what he had, "I got plenty of baby formula for Judith, all the canned food they had and a couple bottles of water".  
Daryl nodded towards the dusty blue minivan in the corner of the parking lot, "Don't forget your apology" he said "and make it quick, they'll start worrying where we are soon". By 'we', Daryl meant Carol, and he didn't care to imagine her pacing the prison grounds looking out for him. He knew she didn't like him going out but with Rick taking a long stay in crazy town him and Glenn were about the only ones capable of doing a run.

When Glenn was done gathering the chocolate they headed over to the Hyundai. It wasn't a bad car, Daryl thought as he threw his bag on to the backseat and climbed in the passenger side, but he would have much preferred to have taken his motorcycle. Carol had said that him and Glenn should stick together though just incase another herd of walkers came through and Daryl supposed she was right, she always was.

"All right, we all set to go then?" Glenn asked, firing up the car.

"Yup, careful driving though chinaman, don't want you zigzagging all over the road again" Daryl said, smiling at Glenn.

"Hey" Glenn laughed, pulling out of the parking lot on to the road "Ko-re-an. Now I got a serious question to ask you Daryl"

Daryl turned to Glenn, confused, "Fire away" he said, concerned.

"Do you think Jackie Chan is still alive?" Glenn asked, completely seriously, facing the the road ahead.

Daryl laughed, "Hell if there's one son of a bitch that can survive this it's him. I'd like to think he's kicking some Chinese walker ass".

"I hope you're right man" Glenn replied, "I really hope you're right."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Carol paced the prison yard, watching the walkers outside the meshed fence try to push their way in. It was almost time for another cleanup, Rick wouldn't be happy if too many walkers built up outside the fences. The prison had proved itself to be a safe enough shelter so far, but since the people from Woodbury had joined the group more cell blocks needed to be cleared and supplies were low. Carol heard the sounds of footsteps and turned around to see Carl walking towards her, pistol in hand, with his father's oversized hat on his head.

"Hey Carol" Carl said, kicking a stone along the concrete floor.

"Oh hey Carl" Carol responded, stealing the hat and placing it on her own head "suits me huh?" she nudged Carl playfully with her elbow.

Carl grinned, "Yeah, but I think it looks better on me" he said, standing on tip toes to retrieve the hat from Carol's head.

Carol laughed, "You're probably right there you know" she folded her arms and looked once again at the walkers at the fence.

"I'm not sure how I feel about these Woodbury people" Carl sighed, "I don't know if we should trust them, and there are so many of them I'm scared we'll run out of food"

Carol put her arm around the boy, "Listen", she said, "most of them are women and children, and Glenn and Daryl are out looking for supplies, we'll find a way of coping. We always do".

Though she wouldn't admit it to Carl, Carol was worried too. Her and Daryl had exchanged cross words earlier in the day about the run he was on with Glenn and he had left without saying goodbye. Secretly, Carol was afraid that she'd never see him again and their last words to each other would have been said in anger.

"You're worried about Daryl, aren't you?" Carl said, "you shouldn't be, he'll be fine"

Carol smiled, "I'm worried about both of them really, Carl. It's dangerous out there and it's never nice seeing anyone go out on a run."

Carl picked up a stone and threw it at the wall of the prison, "I want to go on a run some day soon" he said.

The thought of Carl going outside the prison walls scared Carol, the world beyond was no place for a child, even if he could use a gun, and she was anxious to respond to Carl, who was becoming renowned for his mood swings. Luckily the sound of tyres saved her from having to reply, and the sight of the Hyundai appearing at the end of the road felt like the weight of the world falling off her shoulders. He was back, he was alive, he was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Carol and Carl ran to the prison gate and wrenched it open in time for the car to pass through safely. After closing it securely, Carol walked towards the car, her heart in her mouth. The drivers side door opened first and Glenn climbed out, greeted by a fierce embrace from Maggie. It was at times like these when Carol realised just how dangerous the world around them was, and how easy it was to lose the people she held most dear. She stopped a few feet away from the car, squinting, she tried to make out the shape of Daryl's body in the passenger seat, but the dust and dirt that had accumulated on the windscreen meant that she could hardly see anything inside the vehicle. Her heart dropped suddenly, maybe he didn't want to see her after what had happened this morning, she supposed she had been a little out of line, he was only trying to do his best for the good of the group, but she cared about him too much to not say anything.

"Okay I got plenty of baby formula, a few cans of food and some water" Carol heard Glenn telling Maggie, "there really wasn't much there but we took everything we could, that place is cleaned out now though".

Maggie took the bag from Glenn and snaked an arm around his waist, "I'm sure that's plenty for now", she kissed him on the cheek, "hopefully a few of the Woodbury people will come along for the next run, Tyreese too". Glen nodded and the couple made their way into the cell block, followed by Carl, leaving Carol alone.

"You know you could come out and say hey" she said, loud enough so she knew that he would hear her. She waited for a reply, nothing.

"Okay then, well I'm heading in". She walked slowly back towards the cell block, her eyes prickling with tears. He was still mad at her for this morning, and there was nothing she could do about it except let him stew until he eventually decided to talk to her again. She had just placed a hand on the door when she heard the car door pop open and the sound of footsteps behind her.

"Carol" he said in a gruff voice. She turned around and saw him walking towards her, crossbow slung over his shoulder, boots dirty with blood from the walkers he must have encountered whilst on the run.

"Look", Daryl bit his lip, "'bout this morning, I uh.."

Carol breathed a sigh of relief and placed a hand on his arm, "It's okay Daryl, I shouldn't have been so up tight about everything, I was wrong". She looked up at his face and met his eyes, "can we just forget it?".

Daryl looked down and scuffed the floor with his boots, almost like a child, "yeah" he mumbled, "yeah I'd like that", he smiled and placed his hand on top of her, squeezing it lightly, "now lets go in and see which type of beans we'll get for dinner tonight, huh?"

Carol felt the rough callouses on his hand as Daryl pulled it away and opened the door, holding it ajar so that she had to duck under him to get in to the building. As she passed under his outstretched arm she breathed in the musky scent of him which always made her feel safe. He followed her down the corridor into the main area of the cell block where the rest of the group were scattered. Rick walked towards Daryl as they entered, Judith in his arms.

"Glenn tells me the store you were just at is cleared out, are you sure there's nothin' left?"

Daryl shrugged, "We got everything in there we could use, looked like someone had been there before us. I'm sorry man"  
Rick's face fell, "damn it" he said through gritted teeth. "We need to find some more stores, with all these new people we're going to run out of food pretty darn quick"  
Daryl nodded, "I'll take Glenn out to scout for supplies again in a day or two"

Carol's body stiffened, the thought of him going out _again _was excruciating, but this time she wouldn't let him go without a goodbye.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Daryl stared up through the fuzzy darkness at the bottom of the bunk above him, his mind too preoccupied to sleep. The thought of going out to look for more stores was really unappealing, and he was nervous about how Carol felt about it all. She had been pretty quiet over dinner, and Daryl had the feeling that she was avoiding eye contact with him. He sighed and reached into his pocket to feel the links of the necklace he had picked up earlier that day.  
"Damn women", he grumbled to himself, turning the pendant of the necklace over in his fingers. Daryl had cleaned it up earlier in his cell, and toyed with the idea of giving it to Carol, but he was no good with all that soppy shit and didn't want to make an already awkward situation even worse. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and ran it through his hair, he needed a hair cut, maybe he'd ask Carol in the morning, give them some time to talk alone.

Daryl swung his legs out of the bunk and picked up his crossbow, guessing he would rather go take a watch than lay there and think about too much all at once. He walked as quietly as he could past the other's cells, feeling a pang of jealousy as he glimpsed Glenn and Maggie asleep in each other's arms. Opening the door to the outside, he noticed a dim light flickering in the window of one of the watch towers and made his way towards it.  
"Rick", Daryl called softly, "come down man, I'll take the rest of the night". He opened the door of the tower and began to climb the stairs, the metallic sound of his boots hitting the steps reverberating around him. "Rick?", he called again, opening the door at the top of the stairs.

"Not Rick"

Daryl looked up and saw the silhouette of Carol against the window of the tower, "Carol, why aren't you sleepin'?" he asked, exasperated.

"Nightmares", she shrugged nonchalantly, "the usual, you know, so... you come up here to make out?"

Daryl blushed, thankful that the lack of light in the room hid his face, "Nah, I actually couldn't sleep either. Wasn't expectin' to see you up here".

Carol chuckled, "I wasn't expecting a zombie apocalypse but hey, here we are." She gestured to the outside, where the constant stream of walkers was still trying to break through the prison fence.

Daryl smiled and sat down on the floor next to her, "What you dream about then?" he asked, turning his head to face her.

"Same as always. It's uhm, a pretty nasty dream actually" she replied, her voice cracking.

Daryl reached his hand out and placed it on her back, "Hey, don't cry. You don't have to tell me nothin' if you don't wanna".

Carol leaned towards Daryl and rested her head on his shoulder, crying softly as she buried her head into the leather of his jacket. Daryl wasn't sure what to do to make her feel better, so he just rubbed her back and let her soak his jacket with tears. After a few minutes, she looked up at him, "It's Ed" she said, almost whispering. "It's always him, every time"  
Daryl felt a flash of rage build up inside of him, "Now you know that asshole isn't around to hurt you no more" he said, pulling her closer, "he's gone, Carol. You're safe".

Carol sniffed, "I know that, but the sick thing is sometimes I miss him. Is it even possible to miss someone you hated?". With that she broke down in a fresh flood of tears and buried her head in Daryl's jacket once more. Stroking Carol's hair, Daryl thought of Merle, about how much he had despised his brother, and yet how much it had killed him to see Merle become one of them. He took a deep breath, "Oh yeah, it's possible"

Once again Daryl found himself thankful that it was dark in the tower, as he felt his eyes sting with tears.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

Carol was awoken by the sounds of voices in the yard below. Yawning, she sat up and stretched, judging by how warm it was she had slept in fairly late. She looked round to see Daryl snoring softly, arm outstretched towards her, she must have fallen asleep in his arms. She smiled and took a moment to drink in the sight of him; all signs of anger and frustration had virtually disappeared from his face, his breathing deep and relaxed, he looked almost like a child. Yet there was so much more to him behind those closed eyelids, and Carol hoped she had plenty of time to find out all the mysteries he held so close to his chest. She did not want to wake him but she couldn't resist tip-toeing over and planting a soft kiss on his forehead, her way of thanking him for being there last night. He stirred slightly, but quickly settled back into his sleep and Carol, slightly reluctantly, left the tower.

"Mornin' Carol" Hershel said as she entered the cell block, "want some?" he said through a mouthful of beans, offering the rest of the can to her.

Carol grabbed the can and sniffed the contents, it didn't smell very appetising, then again, cold beans never did. She grabbed a blunt fork from the table and piled it with the cold, slightly congealed contents of the can and took a mouthful. As she chewed she noticed Hershel studying her, the look on his face suggested he had something he needed to talk about.

"Everything okay?" she asked, swallowing the last of the beans. Hershel scratched his beard, Carol would have to trim that soon. "Hershel, what do you need to talk about?" she asked again.

"I know you don't want Daryl to go out on the next run", he eventually replied, his watery blue eyes fixed on a spot on the floor in front of her.

"I don't want _anyone_ to go on the next run", Carol answered.

Hershel sighed, "We all noticed you last night, after Rick mentioned looking for new stores you practically stopped talking. Come on now Carol, this group needs to band together, now more than ever. Rick says we gotta find another store.."

Carol banged a fist on the table, "I am sick of everyone here following Rick's orders without question" she hissed, and Hershel picked up on the acidity in her tone.

"Now Carol" he started, eyes fixed on hers, "Rick saved my life. Heck, he saved all of our lives at some point. Gave me more time with my girls, gave you more time with Daryl. Rick might not always be right but he sure as hell tries. You owe it to him to listen".

Carol knew he was right, it wasn't Rick's fault that she felt this way about Daryl, every time he left the prison she was scared he wouldn't come back and with Sophia gone he was one of the only things keeping her going. She put her head in her hands, "I know" she said, "I just don't want to lose anyone else".

Hershel reached over and took her hand in his, "Losing the ones we love hurts beyond measure" he said, comfortingly, "that's why they have to go and look for supplies, if they don't then all of us will be in danger"

Carol placed her other hand on top of his, "Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry".

"You know he worries about you too, don't you?" Hershel said, "Daryl. I seen the way he looks at you."

Feeling like a giggling schoolgirl, Carol held back her smile, "Daryl worries about everyone."

Hershel chuckled, "You're right there, little ass kicker wont go without a thing while he's around".

Carol smiled, thinking about what Daryl might be like with some little ass kickers of his own.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"All right, we all set?" Rick said, putting a pistol into the holster he wore around his waist. Michonne nodded, climbing into the truck bed, her sword glistening in the early morning light.

"So the plan is to keep going until we find something, anything, a mall or a garage or grocery store." Glenn reminded them, throwing his bag into the back of the Hyundai.

Daryl turned to Carol. "We'll be back before you know it", he said, trying to sound reassuring.

Carol smiled weakly and looked up at him, "I sure hope so", she said, and Daryl suspected she was holding back tears.

"You ain't gotta worry about me, alright?" he said, moving forward to envelope her in his arms. He wished he could stay there, wished he could guarantee that he'd come home, but he just couldn't. None of them could. It was more likely than not that someone would get hurt, everything was dangerous, walkers and people.

"Promise me you wont try and be a hero?" came Carol's muffled voice from his chest.

Daryl rested his chin on top of her head, "Told you you ain't gotta worry. I'll be back".

Carol looked up at him again and he met her gaze, "I know you will" she said, reaching up to place her hands on his face.

"Might even get you a little present if you're lucky" he smiled.

Carol laughed and punched his stomach playfully, "hey, priorities now" she laughed. They caught each others eyes and smiled bashfully.

"Hey Daryl!" Rick's shout broke their eye contact and Daryl turned around, "time to roll out, alright?", Rick said, opening the door of the truck.

Daryl turned back around to face Carol and took her hand in his, "I'm gonna be back, alright? You keep an eye out around here now, and try and get some sleep" he bent down and kissed her on the cheek, stubble brushing her skin.

"I'll try". She flung her arms around his neck and held him tight for a few seconds. "Alright. Go" she said, pushing him towards the truck where Rick was waiting.

Daryl climbed in to the truck next to Rick, not wanting to look back at Carol in case she was crying. Rick fired up the engine and pulled away, Glenn following behind, as soon as they were out of the prison gates, Daryl felt the anxiety build up inside him. This was going to be tough.

"I'm thinkin' there might be a grocery store about an hour up the road" Rick said, breaking the silence in the car. "We just gotta hope nobody has cleaned it out".

Daryl nodded and wound down the window to let some fresh air into the truck, "We got much ammo?" he asked.

Rick ran a hand through his hair, "Not a lot at all, I keep thinking about going back to Woodbury to see what we can gather but I can't risk running in to the Governor again".

Daryl snorted, "That asshole, second I see him I'll take out his other eye".

Rick chuckled, one of the first times Daryl had seen him smile in a long time.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Rick slowed down as they pulled in to the parking lot of the Walmart.

"I'm not holding up much hope for this place" he said, stopping the car as close to the doors as he could. "Almost guaranteed it's been cleaned out".

Daryl climbed out of the truck and looked around him, there was three other cars in the lot. All seemed to be abandoned.

"I don't have a good feeling about this", Michonne said, jumping down from the truck bed and pulling her sword from it's sheath.

Daryl snorted, "You never have a good feelin' about nothin'", he said as he raised his crossbow and started to make his way over to the car nearest to them. It was worth searching, he thought. He opened the driver's side door and bent down to get a closer look at the inside, pretty clean, considering the circumstances. He leaned over and opened the glovebox, empty, he had suspected it might be. He then turned to look in the back and his eyes fell on a pink child's seat, he thought of Judith and stood up to open the back door.

"Hey Rick", he called, leaning over the seat, struggling to undo the straps. "Come help me get this damn thing out the car".

Daryl heard the sound of Rick's footsteps coming towards the car, and felt him watching as he tried to get the seat out. After a few seconds of fighting, Daryl threw the straps down in frustration and wiped the sweat from his brow, "I ain't got a clue how to get that thing out of there".

Rick chuckled. "Move out the way, I got it".

Daryl took a step back and watched as Rick did something with the seatbelt and pulled the seat out of the car, he wanted to learn how to do it himself, just in case.

"You think we might have use for that?" Daryl asked Rick as they walked back to the truck where the others were waiting.

"You never know when we might need to make a quick getaway, might be handy to have one of these around" Rick said, putting the seat into the truck bed. "Thanks, Daryl."

Daryl nodded, "Don't mention it". He spat on the ground and took another look at the parking lot, Michonne was right, something was off about this place.

"Okay so I can't see anything around the back", Glenn said, jogging towards them. "No walkers, no people. Let's just get in there and see what we got inside".

Rick pulled out his pistol, "Alright, let's go". He walked towards the entrance of the store, Tyreese, Glenn, Michonne following, with Daryl bringing up the rear.

"Ready?" Rick said, cocking his pistol. He did not wait for an answer.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

The doors of the store creaked eerily as they swung open. The normality of the store inside struck Daryl as strange. The aisles seemed orderly and tidy, with more stock than he had seen at any other store they had been to. Rick slowly raised a finger and pressed it to his lips and, nodding to the left, he crept over to a display of sunglasses and crouched down behind it.

Daryl turned to the rest of the group and beckoned them with his fingers, "Come on" he whispered through gritted teeth.

They followed him over to where Rick crouched, pistol at the ready. "Somethin' don't seem right here", he said, "this place looks untouched".

"I say we grab what we can and run", Glenn suggested, "doesn't look like anyone is here right now".

Rick rubbed his chin in thought. "No we can't do that, what if there are kids here?".

Glenn sighed in frustration, "Rick we can't just pass up on all the stuff here. Think of how long we could go without a run if we cleared this place out".

"Rick's right", Daryl said, "let's search this place and see if anyone's here. If not, we clear it out".

"And if someone _is_ here?" Michonne said darkly.

"Then we leave quietly", Rick said, standing up. "I'm not losing anyone over supplies. We'll talk to them and see if they'll give us anything. If not, we go without any fuss".

Tyreese stood up next to Rick, "All right, I'm in" he said, pulling a flashlight from his backpack.

Rick scratched his head in thought for a moment and then began to formulate a plan. "Ok. Daryl, Michonne. You take the right hand side of the store, check any stock rooms or anything there might be. Me, Glenn and Tyreese will check the left side, start from the middle and work our way out". He paused and wiped a trickle of sweat from his brow, "Don't split up, try not to shoot off the guns if you come across any walkers. We'll meet back here when we're done".

Daryl stood up and checked that his crossbow was loaded. "Come on then" he said to Michonne.

"Be careful" Rick warned, as the group split in to two.

Michonne walked in front, her flashlight illuminating the shelves as they snaked up and down the aisles of the store. Daryl could not believe how many tins of food were still on the shelves, it was almost like someone had locked the doors and was hoarding food. He hoped that there was nobody else here, no walkers, nothing. That it was just a fantastic stroke of luck which would bring him back to the prison, to Carol, with enough food to last for months.

"So", Michonne said as she prowled the aisles, "What are you thinking about this place?".

"Not sure", Daryl replied as he looked down at the tiles that lined the floor, "You think there's someone here?"

Michonne nodded, dreadlocks bouncing, "Definitely, they've been here a while but there's not many of them. I bet they're using stock from the back before they move on to the ones on the shelves".

"You might be right there", Daryl said as they entered an aisle full of children's toys. He felt the hairs on the back of his arms prickle, and a sudden chill made him shiver. "I don't like this place one bit, feels like there are ghosts here" he said, looking around for any sign of movement.

Michonne laughed, "You telling me you believe in ghosts?" she asked.

"You tellin' me you believe in dead people walkin' around?" Daryl responded, sarcastically.

Michonne chuckled again, "Touché. Hey look, there's a store room or something over there, let's go check it out".

Daryl raised his crossbow and followed Michonne over to the large metal door. Michonne pressed an ear against it and listened for a moment, "I can't hear anything in there" she shrugged.

Daryl reached for the door handle and pushed, it was unlocked. He crossed the threshold into the room cautiously, quickly scanning the room before beckoning for Michonne to come inside.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

The smell hit them almost immediately. Michonne grimaced and let out a low whistle through her teeth.

"Jesus" Daryl coughed, he moved his torch around to find the source of the stench, it did not take long to see it. Slumped in a chair behind a desk was the body of a man wearing a suit, the stump where his head used to be was now home to a swarm of flies, while what remained of his head decorated the wall and ceiling.

"Got bit, fever hit" Daryl said under his breath, moving around to get a closer look at the man, "world's gone to shit, might as well quit". He laughed ironically and thought of the hanging walker in the woods, at least his one had the sense to blow his brains out.

"What did you say?" Michonne asked, opening the drawer of one of the filing cabinets which lined the walls of the room.

"Oh, nothin'", Daryl said, wiping the sweat from his brow, "guess this guy couldn't take it no more."

"All the more for us, then" Michonne remarked, flicking through some paperwork she had pulled out of the drawer.

Placing his crossbow on the desk, Daryl noticed that in his left hand, the body held a small, silver pistol. They could do with all the ammo they could get, he thought as he took a deep breath and began to prize the swollen hand open to release the gun.

"Think he was the only one here?" Daryl asked, wiping the gun on his trousers to clean off the blood.

"No, I think we've got some more to find. Alive or dead, I couldn't say though." Michonne replied as she walked around to the desk to check the drawers.

Daryl slipped the gun into his waistband and ran a hand through his hair, he felt bad for hoping that anyone else they found was dead. Not because he didn't want survivors, but because he wanted to get back to the prison. He wondered what Carol was doing now, and hoped that she wasn't worrying about him, he had promised her that he'd be back, and he didn't break his promises.

The click of a gun behind him snapped him out of his thoughts and made the hairs on the back of his neck stand to attention.

"Who are you?" a rough, male voice asked from behind him. Michonne, who had been ducked down rifling through the desk drawers, stood up slowly with her hands raised in the air.

"We're just passing through, trying to see if we can find a group to stay with", she lied.

Daryl turned around to face the man. He was old and wrinkled, a dirty baseball cap perched on top of his head with wisps of white hair poking out by his ears.

"There ain't no groups here", the old man replied, keeping his gun raised and pointed at Daryl's chest. "Only me. That's the way I like it, that's how it's gonna stay."

Daryl cleared his throat. "We never meant no harm, sir. Just tryin' to survive like everyone else."

The man's eyes flitted frantically from Daryl to Michonne,who had moved in front of the desk.

"You here on your own?" she asked, trying to keep her voice soft.

The man nodded, a bead of sweat dripping off the end of his crooked nose. "Came here with a group 'bout two months ago. They all left, lookin' for some safe haven. Figured I didn't trust the road much and stayed here on my own."

"What about this guy?" Daryl gestured to the body in the chair, flies still buzzing around it.

The man twitched his neck and his eyes fell to the ground. "Well I uh..."

Daryl and Michonne shared a sideways glance, something wasn't right about him.

"You what?" Michonne asked slowly.

The man smiled sadistically. "Couldn't have him hoarding all this." He waved the gun around, gesturing to the room around him. "This place is pretty safe you know. Old freezer out back I been usin' as a bedroom. Kind of headquarters you know?" he took a small step towards Daryl and Michonne.

Daryl studied the man further, he wore black leather boots, which were falling apart, accompanied by faded jeans with holes in the knees. He did not look as if he had had much luck before he found this place.

"So it's safe here?" Michonne asked, interrogating him to buy some time.

The man adjusted his grip on the gun and shuffled his feet. "Safe enough" his eyes widened madly, "for me that is".


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Daryl felt a bead of sweat make its way down the back of his neck. His crossbow was on the desk behind him, if he moved he would get a face full of bullet, if he didn't move, he'd still probably get a face full of bullet.

"We'll leave" Michonne said, her voice strong, but her trembling hands gave away her fear.

The man sniffed. "Now I don't know if I can let y'all just up and leave like that. Might be you bring back some of your friends and take this from me."

Michonne shook her head. "We've actually got a safe place of our own, probably safer than this actually. Just let us go, and we wont come back."

The man looked at her through interested eyes, "Oh right?" he asked. "And where would this safe place be?"

"A prison, about an hours drive from here."

Daryl shot Michonne a look, why would she tell this crazy old man where they were?

"How many people you got up in that prison then?" The man asked, his hands tightening around the gun he still pointed at them.

"About 30" Daryl answered, understanding that Michonne was trying to stall him.

"Now that's where the problem is" the man replied, eyes manic. "If all 30 of you come bangin' on my door I won't stand a chance. Think I'm gonna have to stop that from happening." He smiled, revealing blackened stumps where teeth once were.

"Put down the gun" came a voice from the doorway.

As the man turned, Daryl turned swiftly and grabbed his crossbow. "Don't you think about doing anything stupid now old man" he said, raising the bow to aim at the man's head.

He had never been so glad to see Glenn in his life.

"What are you gonna do about it?" The man laughed at Glenn. "You ain't nothing but a pussy ass Chinaman."

"He's Korean." Daryl said, and as the man turned to face him once more, he let a bolt fly from the bow to embed itself in his forehead.

As the man crumpled to the floor, Glenn laughed. "Well at least we're clear on my origin now".

Daryl snorted, turning the body over with the toe of his boot. "What an asshole" he said, bending down to pull out the bolt.

"Definitely an asshole" Michonne agreed, wiping the sweat from her brow.

Glenn turned his eyes to the body of the man in the chair. "Jesus" he exclaimed.

"Mm" Daryl agreed, wiping the bolt on his trousers. "So, did you find anything?" he asked, reloading the crossbow.

"There's enough food out in the store rooms to last us a couple of months. Plenty of baby formula and some clothes we're going to take too" Glenn replied. "Rick wants to load up as many shopping carts as we can and then run to the cars and pile as much in as we can."

"Alright" Michonne said, striding towards the door. "Lets go do this."

Daryl looked down at the body on the floor. He didn't feel good about killing anyone, but he had promised Carol he'd be back, and wasn't going to let anyone get in the way of his safe return.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Carol pushed the cold beans around her plate with the end of a plastic knife. She was sick of beans. She was also sick of waiting for the group to return from their search for food.

Across the table, Hershel stretched and let out a yawn. "Hope they find a mattress warehouse along the road, those bunk beds aren't doing my back any good".

Carol smiled, "Now wouldn't that be great. Maybe they can stumble across a chocolate factory too."

"Or a brewery" a middle aged man in a dark red t shirt said, taking a seat next to Carol. "Andrew", he said, holding out a strong hand.

"Carol. Nice to meet you" Carol said, taking his hand and shaking it. "Sorry I haven't had a chance to come speak to everyone from Woodbury yet".

Andrew smiled, the wrinkles around his eyes crinkling. "Don't worry about it" he replied, "I hate to be a pain but if you're not going to eat those.." he gestured down the the beans on Carol's plate.

"Oh, sure" Carol said, pushing the plate towards him. "I've had one too many cans of beans recently".

Andrew picked up a fork and shovelled some beans in to his mouth. He had a kind face, soft featured with bright green eyes and the shadow of a silver beard on his jawline. "I'm just so hungry" he said, swallowing the last of his mouthful. "We were used to eating pretty normally over at Woodbury you know. Some generator thing that Milton guy worked on meant we could have hot food". He took another fork full of beans.

"Ahhhh, hot food", Carol sighed. "The last hot meal we had was at yours, wasn't it Hershel?"

Hershel nodded, "Yup, what I wouldn't give for a nice steak right now".

"The Governor didn't let us go hungry, guess I can't fault him there."

Hershel leant forward and looked Andrew in the eyes. "That man was insane. While you were all eating burgers and having a singalong, he was inches away from raping my daughter. Nearly beat Glenn to death. You'll get used to the beans."

Andrew cleared his throat. "Sorry. I didn't realise that happened."

"He also killed your own men, and drove a van full of walkers in to the prison yard." Came Carl's voice from the corner.

"Carl, stop it" Carol said, she knew how angry he could get. "Andrew didn't realise."

Carl stood up and flashed Andrew a filthy look, "I'm going outside."

Hershel heaved himself up, leaning heavily on his crutches. "Think I might go for a nap. Wake me if the others come back."

As Hershel hobbled off to his cell, Carol turned to Andrew and smiled sympathetically. "Try not to worry about them too much. Hershel lost a lot since this whole thing began, and Carl.." she paused, trying to summon the words to describe the boy. "Carl is just messed up. Not his fault, when all this started, Rick was in a coma in hospital. They thought he was dead for sure. His Mom and him joined up with us and Rick somehow found us."

"Wow" Andrew exhaled. "Poor kid."

Carol nodded, "Yeah you could say that."

"And you?" Andrew asked, meeting her eyes. "Any family? Husband?"

The question kicked Carol in the gut. "Uhm. I had a husband and a daughter. They uh.." tears stung her eyes at the thought of Sophia.

"Oh. I'm sorry." Andrew placed a hand on top of Carol's. "I didn't realise, you don't have to tell me."

Carol wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her other hand, it felt nice to have someone touch her and she didn't want Andrew to move. "It's fine. My husband was an asshole anyway." she sniffed, trying to cheer up.

Andrew laughed. "If it's any consolation, my wife was a bitch too."

Carol laughed and wiped her eyes again. "Is she..?" she asked.

Andrew nodded slowly. "Yup. Our next door neighbour ate her while she was jogging to the store. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't relieved."

Carol giggled, noticing that Andrew still hadn't moved his hand. She felt a pang of guilt shoot through her at the thought of Daryl, anything could have happened to him and here she was, laughing and joking around about dead spouses.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Daryl wiped the sweat from his brow as he threw the rucksack full of cans into the shopping cart.

"That's all the canned food there" he said, gesturing to the overflowing cart.

"Alright", Rick responded, walking over to the shopping cart. "Plenty of food there. Glenn, you done with the water?" he turned to face Glenn, who was loading up his cart with bottles of water.

Glenn nodded. "Yeah, think so. We got one cart of water, one of canned food and one of other random crap"

Daryl smiled and picked up a hand towel from the shopping cart "It's not random crap, man. It's _supplies._"

"Whatever you say." Glenn chuckled. "So we ready to go?" he asked.

"Think so." Tyreese said, hauling his own backpack on to his shoulders.

"Shit." Came Michonne's voice from the door of the store. "Get down we got a small herd coming through the parking lot."

Daryl ducked behind a shelf and raised his crossbow. Glenn squatted beside him, breathing quickly. "Fuck man. Do you think they heard us?" he whispered.

"I don't know" Daryl whispered back, anxious. "I doubt it." He shuffled around to the side of the shelf and peered around to the door, luckily, someone had thought to wrap a chain around the handles when they had come in, and the old carpets that hung down on the windows provided them with some protection from being seen.

"Listen", he whispered to Glenn, "I'm gonna go over there, see how many there are and which direction they're goin' in."

Glenn's eyes widened. "Shit. What if they're headed toward the prison? Maggie, Judith, we can't just..."

"Shh." Daryl cut him off. "That's why I'm goin' to check, stay here."

Glenn swallowed hard and nodded slowly. Palms sweating, Daryl began to crawl slowly towards the door. There was no way he was going to let the herd find the prison, even if it meant distracting them himself. As he grew closer, the shadows of walkers broke up the light that was seeping through the bottom of the door frame.

"Daryl!", hissed Michonne, who was laying on her stomach behind the sunglasses display they had hid behind earlier. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Lookin'", Daryl replied, unphased by the annoyance in her tone.

Standing up, Daryl slowly pulled the corner of one of the carpets up and peered through the dirty window of the door.

"Assholes", he muttered under his breath as he watched the 'herd' of about 20 walkers shuffle slowly away from the store and, thankfully, away from the prison. "They're goin' away from the prison", Daryl whispered, loud enough for the group to hear.

Glenn sighed in relief, "Thank god for that".

A few feet away, Rick stood up, back pressed against the wall, "Daryl, what the hell do you think you're doing? You just risked our position", he hissed.

"Well I'm sorry I wanted to make sure your children weren't goin' to be walker food by the time we get back to the prison" Daryl retorted, feeling the anger burn the back of his neck. It wasn't just the children he was thinking off, he would never forgive himself if Carol was hurt. If anything happened to her he didn't know what he'd do, whether anything would even be worth it any more.

Rick's eyes flashed and closed into slits, "Don't you ever make out like I don't care about my children, or any of our group for that matter. You were being stupid, Daryl, and I called you out on it."

Daryl spat on the ground and decided it wasn't worth an argument, he didn't want any more tension back at the prison. "Sorry, okay?" he said somewhat reluctantly.

Rick met Daryl's eyes, paused for a second and then addressed the group. "I say we stay here overnight, make sure the herd gets far enough away before we move out."

The thought of staying overnight did not appeal to Daryl at all, he would much prefer to be back with Carol, it seemed that wherever she was felt like a kind of home to him, as much as a place could, something he'd never felt before.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Carol looked out from the watch tower at the group of walkers stumbling across the morning dew covered grass. Sometimes it was hard to think that they had once been people, who had tried to survive just like everyone at the prison had. She stood up and walked towards the window, eyes focusing on a female walker. She wondered if the walker had been a mother too, if her children were safe somewhere.

"Fancy some company?" a deep voice interrupted her daydream.

Carol turned to see Andrew grinning at her. "Oh hey. You can join me if you like but I must warn you, this is an _incredibly _boring job." She turned back around to look out of the window again.

"I don't mind", Andrew said, walking over to stand next to her. "It's something to do, gets pretty boring sitting in a cell all day."

Carol smiled. "Yeah it definitely does."

Andrew leant against the window and turned to face her, his eyes studying her face intensely. "You think they're coming back?" he asked.

Carol looked at the floor, Daryl and the group had been gone overnight, which was longer than any run had ever taken before. She was almost certain that if they didn't come back by sundown that they weren't going to come back at all.

"Rick is a good leader" Carol said, looking back up at Andrew. "I trust him to bring them back in one piece."

"You don't have to be strong all the time, you know." Andrew said, inching closer. "This world sucks, sometimes you just gotta cry and throw shit around to make you feel better."

Carol laughed. "I know. I did my crying a while ago though. I guess you could say I'm pretty tough now"

Andrew laughed. "Oh really? We might just have to test that" he raised his hands. "Hit me."

Carol giggled. "Really? How old are we? I'm not gonna hit you Andrew"

"Call me Andy." he replied. "Come on now, don't be a spoil sport."

Carol smiled. "Oh what the hell" she said, giving in and punching his hands playfully.

"Now that's my girl!" Andrew said as Carol's punches pushed his hands back.

Carol laughed with him and carried on hitting his hands. This was crazy, she thought. She barely knew him and yet here they were, acting like a couple of teenagers. She only wished that she could have this much fun with Daryl, he had opened up to her a lot over the past few months, but there was always this broodiness about him that stopped her from doing things like this with him. She hadn't managed to break down all of his barriers yet, but she had promised herself she would.

"Alright!" Andrew panted. "I've had enough, you got me. I'll admit it, you're a tough lady."

Carol bowed flamboyantly. "Why thank you sir. Now I believe it's about time I went and got something to eat." She placed a hand tentatively on his arm. "Thanks for the company, I needed it today."

He smiled down at her. "Any time. I'll catch up with you later, alright?"

When Carol reached the bottom of the watch tower steps, she found Hershel leaning against the wall. "Carol" he said, hobbling towards her.

"Morning Hershel" Carol said, smiling.

"What were you doing up there with him?" Hershel interrogated, his concern evident in his tone.

Carol shrugged. "I was keeping watch and Andy came up to join me."

"Well you and _Andy_" he pronounced the name bitterly. "Looked like you were having a bit of fun up there." He raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

Carol sighed. "I know you don't like him, but we were just messing around. Nothing more."

Hershel narrowed his eyes, his wrinkles almost eclipsing them completely. "What about Daryl?" he asked.

Carol felt the guilt hit her in the stomach at the sound of his name. "Hershel." she spat. "Daryl means a hell of a lot to me. That isn't going to change because I spent five minutes in the watch tower with Andrew." Carol said, trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince Hershel.

"He's a nice guy," She softened her tone. "But it isn't like that."

Hershel raised his eyebrows. "If you say so" he said, turning around to shuffle across the prison yard. "Just make sure he knows that."


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Carol yawned as she rubbed her eyes and sat up in bed. It was still dark, she could barely make out the painted bricks that made up the walls of her cell. She hadn't been asleep long but she doubted she would be able to drift off again, sleepless nights had become a regular occurrence since Sophia disappeared. She quietly pulled on her boots and slotted a knife in the waistband of her trousers.

"Rise and shine" she sighed to herself, walking past the cells where the others slept. She wondered if anyone else had the same trouble sleeping, her question was answered for her when she turned a corner and bumped into Andrew.

"Well good morning" he said, smiling. He ran a hand through his grey flecked hair, which was already sticking up at various angles, Caorl noted, probably from tossing and turning.

"Hi" Carol smiled back. "What are you doing up?"

"Could ask the same question of you" he replied. "I was just taking a leak, finding it hard to sleep on those beds".

Carol laughed softly. "Ah you get used to those, don't worry".

"Yeah, maybe. It's just.." he shuffled his feet awkwardly. "I'm finding it a bit _lonely _in there on my own, you know?"

Carol frowned, she hadn't shared a bed with anyone for years. Ed had passed out drunk on the sofa most nights so the nights were her only time to be alone. "Thought you said you hated your wife?" she said, raising an eyebrow through the semi darkness.

Andrew laughed. "Ha, yes. I did. I do. I just mean it would be nice to share a bed with someone again". He looked down into Carol's eyes and moved, closing the space between them.

"Well" Carol said, awkwardly. "I'm sure Tyreese would snuggle up to you if you asked nicely."

Andrew half smiled, eyes fixed on hers. "Always the sarcastic jokes, Carol" he said softly. "Now we both know that's not what I meant". He stroked her cheek with the back of his left hand, the rough skin making the hairs on Carol's skin stand on end.

"Oh" Carol shivered slightly. His touch didn't feel right, her goosebumps weren't the same as they were with Daryl.

"See" Andrew said through his smile. "I knew you wanted it too".

"Wanted what?" Carol tried to stall him, leaning away from him as much as she could without falling.

Andrew snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her close again. "Don't play games with me now girl" he said, gruffly.

Carol breathed in his scent, sickly and unnerving. "Andrew I think you've gotten completely the wrong idea" she said, placing a hand on his chest to push him away. He moved even closer in response, Carol could feel his hot breath on her face as he moved his hand down to touch her behind.

"See, you know you like that" he said as Carol let out a whimper.

"Andrew you need to get off me" Carol said, disgusted. "End this now"

He laughed. "End it? But we've only just begun!" he grabbed her hand and pulled. "Come on. I've always wanted to do it on the table".

Carol tried to yank her arm away, but he overpowered her. She thought of the knife in the waistband of her trousers and tried to reach round to grab it.  
Andrew stopped and tutted. "Nu uh" he waved the knife at her in his free hand. "I'm not stupid you know. Just relax, you'll enjoy this more than you think."

Carol struggled as Andrew pushed her against the table. "I'll scream." she panted between sharp breaths. "Someone will hear me."

Andrew brandished the knife in her face again. "Something tells me you wont." he took Carol's face in his hands and kissed her harshly. "Relax, baby" he breathed as he planted rough kisses on her neck. Carol felt her eyes fill with tears as Andrew unbuckled his belt.

"Please, don't do this" she pleaded softly.

Andrew pulled his jeans down and carried on kissing her neck. "You're gonna enjoy this, I promise." he said, running his hard hands down Carol's back. "I know you've wanted this with that redneck bastard, but clearly he's not interested so here I am. You'll feel so much better when we're done."

Carol closed her eyes when she heard Daryl's name. Perhaps if she imagined it was him, she could make it through this. She thought of his face as Andrew lifted her chin with his finger and kissed her, forcing his tongue in her mouth. She raised her hands and pushed against his shoulders in a last ditch attempt to get him off, but his weight was impossible to shift.

"Carol?" a voice from the doorway made Andrew pull away, quickly reaching to pull up his jeans.

"Daryl" Carol whispered as her eyes fell upon him, standing in the doorway, crossbow in hand. His eyes met hers through the crack of light the open door had let in. "I guess I'll leave you two to it" he said after a few moments silence.

"Daryl, no" Carol started after him, but he turned and stormed off back into the dawn.


End file.
